The Arizona Cardinals are a 1-point favorite against the New York Giants in New York at 1pm Sunday–tied for lowest NFL Sunday point spread (Buffalo is also giving a point to Miami). The Cardinals and Giants both played long games in week 1, but very different long games. The Cardinals hung around and charged back against the Chargers for a late 18-17 victory. The Giants went on Monday Night Football and got embarrassed 25-14 by Detroit–it felt longer than it was for Eli Manning and company.
The Giants look as if their woe will continue–they’ve got a bad offensive line that doesn’t protect Eli Manning and doesn’t make any holes for the running game either. Some New Yorkers think they may have already gotten the best out of Manning. There was supposed to be another big-name controversial quarterback in this one–Carson Palmer. Palmer has sometimes failed to live up to his talent, according to some critics, but he looked superb leading the Cardinals offense late against the Chargers. It’s still hard to win in New York for a visitor taking a long trip after a short week, especially with Arizona playing at essentially 10am on its home clock (10am Pacific time). The Giants will try to respond at home to the enormous pressure the team is under to rebound. If the Cardinals are going to establish themselves as contenders, they have to start off the 2014 season 2-0, with a win in New York.
UPDATE: Carson Palmer Won’t Play
